Marley and Me

It is gloriously sunny outside and I could not be happier about it. I don't think that weather has ever been such a source of excitement or anger in my life as it is at this very time. Whenever I talk to people from home, I have something to say about it. Whenever I visit people here we end up inevitably talking about it. I should be a pro by the time I hit the appropriate age to be doing so, but until then I feel justified in my endless fascination given that it is June and I am still wearing sweats and jackets to track practice, and my sweaters are beginning to have worn holes on the elbows- I either need to rock the old-man elbow padded tweed jacket or buy more "winter" wear. But to counterbalance the never-ending rain and dreary 50s the Pacific Northwest likes to hover around, today is sunny and supposedly going to hit 70. I remain skeptical, but we shall see, and the sun at the moment is too promising. This then begs the question, "Why the heck am I inside when it is warm and sunny for once outside?" and that can be attributed to simple curiosity. Dereck normally comes home around 7:45am from his morning workout (PT) and gets ready to go back to work for the day, but it is 9:15am at the moment, and his cell phone and ACUs tell me he was planning on coming back at some point. So, between curiosity, and more curiosity I am waiting to see what the heck is going on.

And he actually drove in as I finished writing the last sentence, which leads me to wonder what else might come true if I type it...... I would like to be a millionaire, go skiing in Colorado all the time, win the next Pulitzer prize, and create world peace. No response yet, but I remain hopeful.

Since getting back from Becca's wedding Dereck and I have been working on finding a rhythm to married life that works best for us. It normally gets compounded by ever-changing schedules and weeks, but I think that we are finding a rough pattern that fits our lifestyle. A good deal of our time together especially evolves around our crazy puppy Ritter. He demands way more time attention and energy than I ever could have guessed. I am beginning to wonder if I could become rich off a puppy blog, "Marley and Me" style. We are now at a point where he sleeps through the night and I can leave him at home for more than 3 hours without feeling guilty. Just last night however Dereck left him in the backyard while we went to bible study and we came home to him sitting at the kitchen door waiting for us- sans collar and outside the fence. He looked very pleased about his escape abilities and even now we aren't quite sure how he escaped, but we have a suspicion that it involved wiggling under the fence on a sloped portion of the yard. The fun part about Ritter is how much he loves to be around people and the never ending energy. I have taken him on 2 hour walks and still seen him run around the house like its a racetrack. And, he can walk off leash and actually not run away, something this prior Beagle owner never knew could happen. He is actually much better behaved off leash, and so I try to find times in my schedule when there are not as many people outside so that he can roam with freedom and eat all the grass and tree bark he pleases. I do have to give him credit though for landing me my new job with the Pet Brigade, as hinted in the last post.

Two weeks into the job I am much better prepared to tell you, my favorite reader, all about what I do, or don't do when being unproductive and blogging instead of working. I am officially the Public Relations Manager for the kennel on post and another one in Graham that is also owned by the same man. I have really enjoyed working with him and the kennel manager so far, and feel like I am going to gain so much experience here that I can use in the future. I have been able so far to work on two major publicity events with booths, evaluate internet/mobile marketing and where we want to go with that, and I am learning how to work with government bureaucracy as a contracted business, and anyone who knows how government/Army stuff works can imagine just how complicated that can get. The thing I like most so far has been the respect and authority entrusted to me. I feel like I am being treated as a professional with ideas and valuable input rather than a recent college grad, and that trust goes so far in motivating me. My favorite part of the new job? Talking to people about our services. Last week I set-up and ran a booth for 8 hours and had the best time honing my pitch to get people's interest and then talking with them all about pets- one of the easiest selling points in the market. Everyone loves their pets, they love talking about them, and they love taking the best care of them possible, to include boarding and grooming. So, while the women sitting next to me selling financial investments had much fewer takers, I found myself at a table constantly busy with interested consumers. Maybe it's the aspect of being a salesperson without feeling super slimy, or the chance to talk to new people, or showing myself that I can integrate quickly into a new job. Whatever it is, I am thanking God for the opportunity, and the flexibility that working part-time allows me to do things like PWOC bible study and workouts.

In addition to being a working woman and taking Ritter on walks to tire him out, I am in the throws of getting allergy shots again and have currently finished my last rounds of physical therapy that have been ongoing since I got here. The hope is that all my frequent visits to Madigan hospital mean less allergies and a better knee. At this point I could have some serious points on a punch card program, although in actuality the senior retirees who like to sit in the lobby and block all the walkways everyday could beat me hands down. They are one devoted crowd!

On the Army side of life, I have been busy with battalion events, such as our monthly coffee that we had last week. We decided to play Bunco since it came up at the previous coffee that some women didn't know how to play, and in the Army that is "unAmerican." So, wine glasses were pulled out, tables set up, and the dice got to rolling. At first I was doing awesome and winning every round until Jodie got a Bunco on her first roll, and from there it was up and down for me. The best part about Bunco though is that there are tons of winners in the game- most wins, most losses, most ties, most buncos, most mini-Buncos, so the odds are normally good even for someone not having a lucky night. In honor of my mother who seems to win at everything, I am proud to say that I won for "most wins" and earned a Starbucks giftcard that I forgot about until yesterday when I was digging through my purse and found it. If that isn't pure joy then what is? The coffee then rolled into a four day weekend for Dereck, and I could not have been more happy about it. We didn't do any traveling or finish any massive projects, but we did manage to spend tons of time catching up and sleeping, something he has been behind on with training. And, we got to spend time with my friend Scarlett and build a flower box/bed for her garden. I say "we" like I contributed to the planning or the sawing or the nailing, but I like to think I was there for moral support and general entertainment. The boxes actually turned out nicely and I am now contemplating maybe having one for us also, but then I look at Ritter as he finds any and everything inside and outside the house to chew on and realize what a bad idea that could be. He is literally tugging and chewing on my robe as I type this and try to remember where he left his kong bone for a substitute.

Last week kicked back into the normal after the fantastic long weekend, and I got back to work at Pet Brigade and life, to include the crazy kids at cross country and track and field practice. I love the difference between the two practices. I tell cross country kids that we need to do 400s and they are excited. I tell the track kids the same and they look at me like I am the most insane person on the infield. It is easy to see how much patience they are teaching me while we spend time in the cold rain together. But for all the infuriating things they do and say, those kids are also some of the most hilarious people I know, which either means I need to get out more, or they are blessing me in return. I now know all the cool bands, tv shows, and toys for the 8-11 year old crowd, and they like to ask me when I am having kids since adults obviously have kids. Over the weekend Dereck had staff duty from 9am Saturday- 9pm Sunday, so Ritter and I took the time for a super long walk on a new trail during the day and I biked with a friend, making me tired enough for a long "veg" session on the couch Saturday night watching girly tv shows Dereck would never like on TLC. Sunday was a catch-up day of sleep for Dereck, and yesterday I hit spin class, ran laundry, went on errands with Dereck during lunch, got allergy shots, took Ritter for a walk, and made Sausage Pin Wheels for our bible study at my neighbor's house (the same one during which Ritter escaped captivity).

And now I have learned my lesson on putting off blogging for such a long period of time. There is a rush to include so many things, while other good things are forgotten, and it leads to a bigger picture, less detailed story, and I like details- they make the picture more rich. Must be more disciplined! For starters, I should be getting ready to go to the pool for a swim workout, and instead am typing to my heart's content. Hopefully Dereck will understand my need for expression while he waits in the pool....